Agriculture

This collection includes approximately 20 items and consists largely of hand tools. There are gaps in this collection in the dairying and sheep farming areas.

Archaeology

This collection includes 18th and 19th century industrial material relating to the mining, smelting and transport of lead. The majority of this collection has been collected on excavations carried out by the Museum over the last 20 years and in a programme of underground exploration.

Archives

The archive collection consists of books, bound records, photographs, newspapers and other printed material, maps, plans, manuscripts and ephemera relating to the human and industrial history of Wanlockhead, Leadhills and to lead and metal sites throughout Scotland. There are approximately 1200 items.

Books

There are approximately 2800 books in the collection in the Miners' Library.

Costume and Costume Accessories

The costume collection consists of approximately 230 items of which 76 items are early 20th century costume jewellery. The majority of the costume collection dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. There are some rare examples of 19th century working costume which were found in the local mines. Also notable is the collection of Ayrshire Whitework and local Muslin Flowering.

Craft / Industry and Commerce

There are about 100 items in this collection, reflecting local crafts such as thatching, carpentry and smithery.

Geology

The Museum has a mineral collection of about 400 specimens. The majority of the specimens have either been collected in Wanlockhead or Leadhills and are associated with lead. There is a small number of specimens from other lead mining sites in Scotland. There is also a collection of local quartzes, calcites and galena, as well as a range of sphalerite, pyromorphites, chalcopyrites and barbytes on galena. There is a small but representative collection of the rarer lead associated secondary minerals such as leadhillite, witherite, linerite and susannite.

Mining and Mineral Extraction

The collection consists of approximately 250 items, the majority of which are archaeological material recovered locally. There is a representative collection of hand tools and safety equipment from the Wanlockhead mines. A small number of objects relate to mines in Leadhills and other sites in Scotland. Water and air pumping equipment has also been recovered from the Wanlockhead mines, including a rag and chain pump. Approximately 10 objects relate to the extraction of gold from local streams.

Smelting and Ore Preparation

This is a small collection of about 50 objects. It consists largely of material recovered from excavations carried out by the Museum in Wanlockhead at the Pates Knowe smelt mill in 1974, the ore crushing plant at Meadwofoot in 1988 and the lead slimes treatment plant in 1989. There are several items from other lead mining and smelting sites in Scotland, including the ore stamp from Woodhead lead mine in Carsphairn.

Social History

This is a large collection of approximately 500 items including a wide variety of material relating to daily ife, leisure, religion and education associated with the villages of Wanlockhead and Leadhills. There are also collections of certain types of material, eg. curling stones, society trophies and tokens.

Transport

There are about 100 items in this collection which can be divided into two areas: (1) material directly relating to transport and haulage in the lead mines, such as tramways, plate rails, small wagons, kibbles and stowes and material relating to the Wanlockhead-Elvanfoot branchline of the railway; (2) archaeological material collected during underground research and excavation work including a collection of the different rails and chairs used in the local mines.